Appearance III
Opening up the Rockdirect Pegasus 650 via a single latch shows us a 15.4-inch wide-aspect display that's now common on many laptops now. The wide-aspect screen makes watching DVDs a pleasure. The sample was a pre-production model with a native resolution of 1280x800, however all retail models will feature a WSXGA+ screen with a 1680x1050 resolution. We feel that's just about right for a 15.4" panel, and the sample's was crisp, clear, even, and viewable from reasonably wide angles. A couple of speakers are located just underneath the screen which does not benefit/suffer (delete as appropriate) from the reflective X-Glass technology found on other high-end models. The black surround on a white display background makes the screen feel a little smaller than it actually is.
The chassis is plastic but doesn't warm up too much under mains-powered use. As you would expect, the right-hand side becomes warmer than the left, that's where the CPU, graphics card and chipset bridges are located underneath. The trackpad's smooth but the underlying buttons are a little stiff. Of course, this is subjective, and you might prefer a firmer touch. 3 buttons at the top can be programmed for shortcuts.
The bundle included with the Rockdirect Pegasus 650 comprises of a backup Windows XP CD, various drivers and accessories on a separate CD, and a number of other utilities found on other models. Specifically, Rockdirect adds in CyberLink's PowerDVD 5, Roxio's Basic VCD Creator 7, the ubiquitous Microsoft Works v8, the ever-so-handy Nero SmartSuite, which provides the interface via which you'd burn DVDs and CDs. Security-wise, there's a full version of PandaVirus Platinum bundled in, too.
Rockdirect provides a 3-year collect and return warranty on all its laptops, and post-sales support and maintenance is provided by Mobile Support, who can be contacted, in case of any problems, via a national-rate 0871 number. A 20-minute call, then, can set you back around £2 at a time. Hardware-wise, Rockdirect bundles in a basic nylon laptop carrying case.
Overall, a decent specification based on a decent enough chassis. Thin-and-light lovers will be disappointed with the Pegasus 650's >3kg basic weight, however. Let's now see how it performs.
